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Much like there's
always room for Jell-O, there's always room for gelatin-based videogame
sidekicks, especially those that combine the exploration and problem-solving
spirit of a point and click adventure game with the run-and-jump action
of a side-scroller. "A Boy and His Blob", brought to you
by David Crane of Pitfall fame, does just that.
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It breaks
down like this: In the far distant future world of the twenty-first
century, plenty of kids have friends from other galaxies. Your
character (the titular "boy") happens to be pals with
Blobert, a blob from the planet Blobolonia. It's a great planet,
low rent, good schools, nice and cool by the lake, but like
countless other videogame planets, it's fallen prey to the tyranny
of an evil emperor. This particular despot force-feeds his blobby
subjects chocolates and other sweets, because to him and his
evil ilk, healthy foods are poisonous. It's never really clear
if there's a moral there, but we'll touch on the food thing
again in a moment. Your mission is apparent: Rush to Earth's
nearest Subway station and tunnel down to a labyrinth of underground
caverns where you'll search for buried treasure in order to
gain enough wealth to buy a large supply of vitamins which you'll
take with you to Blobolonia where you'll battle the evil Emperor's
army to free your best friend's homeworld from cruelty and oppression.
Piece of cake. You'll be back in time for M*A*S*H.
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He's like
Frosty the Snowman, but with more ectoplasm.
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Actually it's
a littler tougher than it sounds, but you're fairly well armed. Ya
see, your glutinous companion can morph into a number of helpful objects
such as a trampoline, a ladder, a jack, a bowling ball, a bubble,
a hummingbird, a hole, a rocket, a blowtorch, and a "Vita Blaster"
for dispatching your enemies. Think Kirby with a bit more challenge.
You can control Blob's transformations through the different types
of jellybeans you feed him. Experimenting with this and judging which
form is appropriate for the obstacle at hand make up the bulk of the
gameplay for the first half of the game on Earth.
When you've amassed
enough treasure to buy a sufficient supply of vitamins, and have found
the elusive jellybean flavor that will change your sidekick into the
Vita Blaster, it's time for the second half of the game on Blobolonia.
Here, you make your way past various enemies with different attack
patterns until you reach the Emperor for the final showdown.
Hey, when I said
"titular" in the second paragraph, you giggled like a drunk
nun didn't you? Go on, admit it.
They're just friends, but they enjoy a
good climb now and then.
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This
game has been criticized as the first of the games you absolutely
need a strategy guide to complete. Patently untrue. Anyone who
tells you this, is either lazy, or just wasn't up for this type
of game. "A Boy and His Blob" is centered around exploration,
like any good adventure game. Any confusing elements, and there
are admittedly more than a few, can be clarified with a simple
glance at the very well laid out manual. Control is simple. Whistle
at the blob to get him to come. Feed him a jellybean to get him
to do something. That's literally all you'll ever need to do in
the game. The challenge arises from determining what trick should
be used when to reach your goal and fully explore the caves. |
I do concede, though,
that some of the transformations can be baffling at first. I got very
frustrated when I used the blob as a trampoline to reach a high cliff,
only to discover that by doing so I had stranded him below. But with
a little experimentation, I soon discovered that another of his shapes
(which I manifested by tossing a different jellybean several screens
down to my loyal comrade) was designed expressly for the purpose of
solving this problem. It's part of the challenge, folks.
On the flipside,
the latter half of the game provides action enthusiasts with their
poison of choice as well. This mix never feels forced, though one
can tell this is an intellectual game at heart. One hit will kill
you, but little forced mini-game-like areas give you several chances
to earn extra lives. And as a nice twist, the final fight is won through
puzzle-solving rather than violence.
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It's
honestly quite entertaining and anyone who tells you different
is a dirty carpetbagger, plain and simple. Puzzles are fun and
challenging without being impossible. Environments are flexible
(you can use Blob to go directly through floors or ascend to
higher levels at any time). And the whole thing's got a whimsical
sci-fi thing going for it that I just can't resist. In general,
it seems like a lot of care was taken to make this an enjoyable,
unified experience. I guess the credit goes to David Crane whose
name (and connection to Pitfall) is plastered throughout. Crane
doesn't leave you hanging down in the subterranean depths of
the city. He keeps the exploration open-ended, while keeping
the goal clear by giving you a counter that tells you how many
treasures you still have to find. That's courtesy. Additionally,
he avoids a common annoyance found in games that force you to
cycle through lists by providing a way to scroll backwards as
well as forwards through your jellybean supply. So, accidentally
going past the flavor you wanted won't mean a return trip through
your entire inventory. Thanks again, Dave.
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I don't
want to know how he's breathing in there.
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"If all the raindrops were lemon drops and gumdrops, oh
what a rain it would--AAAAH!!! DEAR GOD, THEY'RE MELTING MY
FACE!!"
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The
action controls are pretty straightforward. As I said above, whistling
and candy-tossin' are really the only two skills you'll need to
master. Aiming the Vita Blaster gets a little dicey, but at least
you CAN aim it, rather than only being able to shoot forward.
Movement, however, is a little tiresome. The game tries to emulate
the Hanna-Barbara style of running, meaning you often skid to
a slippery stop several feet beyond your intended target. Blob's
movement is imprecise as well. If you whistle for him, he'll usually
get right next you, but otherwise he follows a few paces behind,
sometimes forgetting to follow altogether. This gets especially
annoying if you have to position him at exactly the right spot
to pull something off. You will get used to compensating for this,
though, and the manual is at least honest about it. It gives you
the invaluable advice of turning Blob into a blowtorch so he can
then be picked up and placed precisely where you want him. |
A game about a
mutating glob o' goo better have decent graphics, and decent graphics
it does…have… To be blunt, each of Blob's forms look like
what they're supposed to look like, while still looking like Blob.
Not too hard to do, just slap a pair of eyes on a rocket and call
it a day, but an important aspect of the visual style. The dull brown
of the caves is broken up by the blues in the lower water levels.
The industrial grays of the Emperor's palace contrasts with the jungle
area surrounding it. And the animations are quite cartoony. For example,
if you walk off a ledge, you'll take a few steps into the air, look
down, look at the screen, wait a beat, and then finally plummet to
your doom.
Sound-wise, there's
not a great deal to report. The music never gets old, nor intrudes
on the experience, and the sound effects are appropriate, if remedial.
I'm probably the
biggest booster of this game you'll find. The best reviews on the
net seem to consider this an ambitious, but flawed concept at best.
I disagree. It's not too hard, because I beat it in almost one sitting
and I'm a moron (ask the J Man). It's not too boring, because I can't
sit through ten minutes of any Final Fantasy, and yet I handled this
just fine. It's just a specific type of game offering a specific type
of experience. If you want another Contra, look elsewhere, but if
you're up for some puzzle-solving and treasure hunting presented in
an original way, then "A Boy and His Blob" is most definitely
worth a shot.
-reviewed 9/12/03 - game copyright 1989 Absolute Entertainment
A cartoony, interplanetary
adventure with plenty of light puzzle-solving and creativity. Multiple
opportunities to be inconvenient and annoying are wisely passed up.
Imprecise movement
puts a cramp in your style and might frustrate gamers with A.D.D.
(All of them.) The manual's required reading, so if you're illiterate,
forget it. Then again, if you're illiterate, your mom's a whore and
you smell like feet.
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7
- Perfectly pixilated putty |
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6
- Appropriately squishophonic |
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5
- A tad muddy here and there |
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8
- Slime-tastic |
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88% |
A Boy and His Blob on MobyGames
Gameplay video at NESGuide
Manual at Replacementdocs
David Crane bio on Wikipedia
"There's more than one way to stop a candy
machine." - A Boy and His Blob instruction manual
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